Students at a Papuan independence rally in Surabaya in 2013. Image: File photo Bay Ismoyo/Jakarta Post

Pacific Scoop:Report – By Banjir Ambarita in Jayapura

A policeman was assaulted and his firearm stolen during a fundraising event in the eastern province of Papua on Thursday, Indonesian police have told the Jakarta Globe.

But other reports have claimed that at least one protester was shot dead in the crackdown on what was believed to be a fundraising for the the Cyclone Pam victims in Vanuatu.

Police said a member of the pro-independence West Papua National Committee (KNPB) attacked Second Inspector Budi Santoso while police were trying to break up the fundraising event in Yahukimo district. Read more »

General Gatot Nurmantyo … young people also a “target” with 21 cases of university campuses being vandalised by their own students. Image: Antara

Pacific Scoop:Report – By Suherdjoko in Jakarta

Indonesia is facing a proxy war in which a third party is being used to attack Indonesia in any way, says Army chief of staff General Gatot Nurmantyo.

“A clear example of a proxy war is the seceding of East Timor [ now Timor-Leste] from Indonesia. Why were there efforts to secede East Timor from Indonesia?” he asked students at Diponegoro University in Semarang.

“It turned out that there was the Great Sunrise [oil field] in Timor Gap. A book on this issue was written by an Australian who was an adviser to [then pro-independence movement leader now Prime Minister] Xanana Gusmao.” Read more »

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has arrived in Papua New Guinea at the start of a three-country tour through the Pacific, saying the aim of the trip is to strengthen relations with PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji.

Radio Australia reported that the Indonesian and PNG foreign ministers barred reporters’ questions on West Papua at a media conference yesterday, but PNG Todaynewsweb reported that the PNG minister Rimbink Pato later spoke about the issue to local journalists.

According to Radio Australia, Rimbink Pato released a statement before the media conference, saying bilateral, regional and international issues would be discussed. Read more »

A prominent Australian human rights lawyer has welcomed a statement of support for West Papuans by Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, saying it has “been a long time coming”.

O’Neill said he would speak out on behalf of Melanesians in Indonesian West Papua, saying it was “time for PNG to speak about the oppression of our people there”.

Jennifer Robinson, a long-time advocate for the independence movement in the two Indonesian provinces that make up West Papua, said O’Neill’s change of heart on the human rights abuses in the province was a huge development. Read more »

Rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to uphold human rights in Papua and bring perpetrators of rights abuses to justice.

The group said in its World Report 2015 that Papua’s festering low-level pro-independence insurgency led by the Free Papua Movement (OPM) has continued to result in human rights abuses by Indonesian security forces.

At least 69 Papuans were imprisoned for peaceful advocacy of independence as of late October. Read more »

Gunboat diplomacy … Indonesian navy sailors keep an eye on a Vietnamese fishing vessel after it was destroyed for illegally operating in Indonesian waters in the Riau Islands, last month. Image: Jakarta Post

Pacific Scoop: Report – By Nethy Dharma Somba in Jayapura

Indonesian police in West Papua have said they will sink a Vietnamese-flagged fishing vessel named the KM Thank Cong, which they caught allegedly poaching in the province’s waters earlier this month.

“The police will not give up their fight against illegal fishing perpetrators in West Papua. The Vietnamese fishermen proven guilty of stealing our resources will be brought to justice in the hope that this can have a deterrent effect,” West Papua police chief Brigaduer-General Paulus Waterpauw told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

“We have coordinated with prosecutors for special measures to be taken to sink the foreign vessel,” he said. Read more »